State suspends operations at Phoenix behavioral hospital

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — State officials have forced St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Center in Phoenix to suspend its operations and patient care.

The facility near 16th and Van Buren Streets has been without air conditioning since the afternoon of August 8.

Nearly 100 patients were transferred to other facilities.

The hospital got a new chiller during the weekend but it’s unclear if it was installed or if the air conditioning has been fixed.

The company that owns St. Luke’s, Steward Health, said in a statement to Arizona’s Family on Wednesday it was “alarmed” by the suspension.

“In the midst of statewide shortages for critical behavioral health services, it is unconscionable for the state to halt patient care without a plan in place to serve these individuals with the ongoing care that they require. They are effectively closing this hospital and causing disruption of critical services to a vulnerable population with few options for care,” a spokesman said.

A whistleblower came forward on Sunday, claiming hospital leaders knew about the building’s HVAC system’s issues for years.

He said when it stopped working last week, there was no backup plan in place.

“Administration gave no direction of what to do, and it was just chaos,” he said.

Steward Health Care filed for bankruptcy in May, saying that its four hospitals in Arizona would be auctioned off.

That led to an investigation launched by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes a few days later.

“St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Center and its dedicated staff provide high quality and critically important psychiatric services for a high-needs, vulnerable and marginalized population. The vast majority of our patients are part of the public payer system and have very few options for care. We are alarmed at the state of Arizona’s arbitrary decision to force St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Center to suspend operations and halt patient care.

Patient care and safety is always at the forefront of everything that we do. We have been actively addressing the issues cited in the enforcement action and are making substantial progress to resolve them as soon as possible. However, in the midst of statewide shortages for critical behavioral health services, it is unconscionable for the state to halt patient care without a plan in place to serve these individuals with the ongoing care that they require. They are effectively closing this hospital and causing disruption of critical services to a vulnerable population with few options for care.”

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